Before Nightfall

by Rachel Amphlett

  So much for the element of surprise.

  Finn kicked the door the rest of the way open and fell into a crouch, his gun sweeping the room. Satisfied it was empty he entered the space, closely followed by Steve.

  Noticing the table in the middle of the room, he spun round, appraising his surroundings.

  ‘This is where they filmed her,’ he whispered.

  ‘We’ve got to keep moving, Finn.’

  Leaving the room, the two men worked their way quickly up the flight of stairs, their footsteps on the steel muffled by the soft soles of their shoes.

  Reaching the landing, Finn swept his gun in front of him, and then caught a movement out the corner of his eye.

  ‘Down!’

  He ducked as a bullet embedded itself into the plaster next to his head a split second before he heard the report of the gun which had fired it.

  Steve aimed from a couching position, firing his gun at the place where he’d seen the muzzle flash.

  Finn heard a grunt, followed by another gunshot which kicked up dust next to his face.

  ‘That was too close,’ he grumbled. ‘Back!’

  He and Steve shuffled back to the stairs, keeping low. As they moved, a shadow detached itself from the end of the passageway, ran to the door and slid the bolts back.

  The man grinned, exposing rotten teeth, then kicked the door open and aimed his gun at the person inside.

  Finn yelled, rushed up the stairs, and fired.

  Then he heard the sound of glass shattering, and a scream.

  He ran, praying he wasn’t too late.

  Kate had jumped as a crash vibrated through the wall behind her. Her heartbeat racing, she gathered the chain in her hand, and moved swiftly to the door.

  Raised voices, urgent and panicking echoed through the building, muffled through the wooden surface.

  Kate jerked her head away from the door at the sound of a second loud noise and realised it had been a gunshot.

  Frantically, she scanned the room, and then her gaze fell to the window.

  She’d have to break the glass to try to escape, and she realised that as soon as she did, she wouldn’t be able to change her mind – the noise would bring her guards running if they weren’t involved in the commotion she could hear downstairs.

  She tested the weight of the iron hoop in her grip, then using the chain, she swung it over her head until it smashed through the panes of glass.

  She glanced over her shoulder, but realised she was out of time. There was no turning back now that she’d started.

  Her breath caught in her throat. Footsteps. Someone running up the stairs in her direction.

  She moved quickly, the footsteps drawing nearer, running towards her cell. She peered up at the window, then stepped back and jumped, her fingers snagging the sill before she tumbled to the floor.

  Cursing, she moved back to the middle of the room, and then ran at the wall, leaping forward at the last minute. This time, she gained a hold on the sill, obliterating the day marks she had been making. Winded, she began using her feet to push herself upwards, until her head drew level with the opening and then hauled herself up until she could hook her elbows over the edge.

  She caught her breath, ignoring the pain which shot through her ankle, then gripped the iron hoop and broke the remaining glass out of the panes, and pulled the flimsy frame out of the gap. Rotten wood fell away between her fingers, and she dropped it to the floor below.

  Craning her neck, she peered outside, a cool breeze ruffling her hair as she leaned out of the opening. She narrowed her eyes and surveyed the ground beneath the window.

  The room was on the top level of the building, with a metal fire escape winding its way up to the roof. The ironwork was too far away to reach though, so Kate shook her head and kept searching. Directly below, a pile of refuse bags awaited disposal, the stink reaching her nostrils and making her gag.

  It felt strange knowing that she was moments away from freedom, or death. Resolute, she began to turn her body on the sill so her feet pointed out the window first. She recalled her father once telling her that if she ever needed to escape her bedroom in the event of a fire as a child, she should hang out the window as far as she could, and then drop, and roll on impact to avoid breaking any bones.

  Except then, there had been a privet hedge below her bedroom window to break that fall.

  Now, only a concrete pavement welcomed her if she missed landing on the refuse bags.

  What if she broke her leg? How would she escape then? Were there open businesses or houses nearby? Were the people friendly, or would they return her to her captors?

  She swallowed, knelt on the sill and mentally prepared herself for the fall.

  She spun round at a sudden noise from outside the locked door.

  A gunshot, loud in the enclosed space, reverberated through the building. Kate cried out, pulled herself through the window and looked down at the bags, wondering if they’d break her fall.

  She glanced over her shoulder in fright at a loud crash from behind. The door was splintering, a deep cut tearing through the wooden surface, before a metallic jangle of bolts tore through the noise. The handle began to turn, stopped and then the door shook as it was kicked from the other side.

  Kate turned in the window opening, her feet dangling in the air. As the door fell open, a man stood silhouetted in its frame. She recognised one of Kaan’s men, his face livid, moments before a second gunshot reverberated around the room, and he fell forward, a deep exit wound blossoming across his chest moments before a bullet ricocheted off the plaster above Kate’s head.

  She screamed, her hands slipping across the window sill, and fell.

  Chapter 28

  Finn yelled as he saw Kate disappear from view. He pushed his way through the door, climbed across the dead man’s body and ran to the window, fearing the worst.

  He hauled himself through the opening, cursing as his wide shoulders scraped the walls, and looked down.

  Kate hung from the chain around her wrist, the iron loop hitched over a metal beam which protruded from the building a storey below. She swung round in a circle, both hands wrapped around the chain. She raised her head at the sound of his voice.

  He grinned. ‘Hey, Rapunzel, you’re not supposed to throw yourself out the window.’

  Kate glared at him. ‘Where the hell have you been?’

  She broke off and cried out as the metal beam shuddered and creaked with her weight. Mortar dust fell from around its surface, tumbling to the hard ground below.

  Finn stopped smiling as Kate’s face contorted with fear. ‘Let’s get you up.’

  ‘Hurry – I don’t think this is going to hold for much longer!’

  Finn looked over his shoulder as Steve ran through the door and slid back off the window sill into the room.

  ‘What’s going on?’

  ‘She fell through the window. I’m going to pull her back up. Cover me.’

  ‘Okay. Be quick – there might be reinforcements.’ He threw his backpack towards Finn before turning his back to the window and pacing the room, his eyes alert for any movement outside the door, his finger on the trigger of his gun.

  Finn opened the pack and extracted a length of rope and a grappling hook. Striding over to the window, he tied the hook to the rope and then heaved himself back onto the window sill and leaned out.

  ‘How’re you doing?’

  ‘Hurry, Finn,’ Kate gasped, her body weight twisting her in the air. She pointed her feet towards the wall to stop her body from spinning and stared up at him. ‘What are you going to do?’

  He pushed the rope through the opening and let it fall down the wall before the grappling hook caught the inside of the window sill and held. Next, he swung the free end of the rope towards Kate.

  ‘Grab onto this,’ he said. ‘It’ll take some of the strain off the beam.’

  He waited until she’d managed to get a firm hold. ‘Okay, I’m going to pull you up,’ he said
. ‘Use your feet to walk up the wall to help me.’

  Kate waited until the slack had been taken up by Finn, and then began to place the soles of her feet on the stonework of the building. When her feet slipped, Finn held the rope tight until she managed to stop herself from spinning, and then found new purchase. With Finn feeding the rope through his hands at the other end, she made quick progress.

  ‘Wait!’ she called. ‘I need to unhook my wrist.’

  Finn peered through the window and watched as, gritting her teeth, Kate strained her body across the building.

  She leaned further, and tugged the iron loop off the metal beam which had saved her from plummeting to the street below. Gathering it up, she slipped it over her wrist and then clutched onto the rope with both hands, a sigh of relief escaping her lips, before she turned her face to Finn.

  ‘Okay – pull me up.’

  Within seconds she’d reached the window sill.

  Finn reached through and grabbed her arms.

  ‘It’s okay, I’ve got you – I’ve got you,’ he panted, sweat pouring down his face. ‘Steady.’

  Kate wriggled through the gap in the wall, dropped the chain and iron loop onto the floor and allowed Finn to pull her down to the ground.

  Except when she got there, he didn’t let go.

  He couldn’t. Not yet.

  He pulled her closer and enveloped her in his arms, burying his face in her hair.

  They both jumped at the sound of a cough.

  ‘Folks, I’m really happy for you, but we have a bomb to sort out and a bad guy to find.’

  Kate turned and smiled. ‘Hi, Steve.’ She wiped away the tears which covered her cheeks.

  He held his hand up in greeting and spoke to Finn. ‘Focus. This is where it could still go pear-shaped.’

  ‘I think they must have living quarters on the level below,’ said Kate. ‘That part of the building has always been quiet compared with the garage downstairs.’

  ‘Okay,’ said Steve. ‘I’ll go in search of Kaan – you go back and guard the bomb.’ He caught the backpack which Finn threw to him and turned to go.

  ‘Steve?’

  ‘What?’

  ‘Be careful,’ said Finn. ‘We all leave by the front door, right?’

  ‘Right.’

  He turned to Kate. ‘Ready?’

  She grasped his outstretched hand.

  He paused. ‘You do exactly what I say, understood?’ He swallowed. ‘No time to ask why – just do it, okay? Your life depends on listening to me. I can get you out of here.’

  She nodded.

  ‘Come on then.’ He checked the exit first, his gun held steady in front of him, before leading her through the door.

  Plaster hung from the walls and ceilings along the passageway, and as they approached the staircase, he noted the pockmarked welds to the steel frame where it had been repaired over time.

  As they descended, Finn pushed Kate behind him, keeping her close to the wall. Steve glanced over his shoulder as they reached the next floor, gave Finn a thumbs-up and disappeared into the gloom, hunting his prey.

  Finn pulled Kate after him, slowly descending to the ground floor. Reaching the lower level, he turned to her.

  ‘Should we be expecting anyone else?’

  She closed her eyes. ‘There’s a short guy, middle aged – I think he’s the bomb-maker. Kaan, and another man – younger.’ She shuddered. ‘Nastier – about your height and build. They called him “Yusuf”. He has a knife.’

  ‘Yusuf. Okay, good – I think everyone else is out of action.’

  He pulled Kate across to the room next to the stairs and pulled out a chair for her. ‘Stay here. Don’t move.’ He reached into his backpack and pulled out a pepper spray and handed it to her. ‘You know what to do with this if you need to.’

  She nodded, and took it from him.

  He realised her hands were shaking. He squeezed her shoulder, and then turned and hurried back to the double doors leading through to the garage. He removed the metal pipe from the door handles and slowly pushed them open.

  Once he was through, he edged the doors closed again, his eyes adjusting to the dim light.

  Hugging the wall, Finn worked his way round the workshop, stepping over car jacks and tools which had been left lying around. Passing shelves laden with spare car parts, he checked over his shoulder and frowned.

  The double doors were now open.

  A man stood on the threshold, silhouetted by the low light from the passageway, a rifle in his grip.

  ‘I know you’re in there!’

  The man’s voice shook, and Finn noticed how his hands trembled on the weapon.

  He smiled and began to edge his way towards the figure, his gun ready.

  His head jerked up at a noise from the doorway. A taller man had appeared behind the first and seemed to be talking to him, before his arm snaked around his neck and jerked once, hard.

  Finn exhaled through his teeth as blood from the victim’s neck spurted upwards and over the concrete floor.

  He cursed as the second figure used the man’s body as a shield, moving into the darkness of the garage, until Finn lost sight of him.

  Tightening his grip on his gun, Finn shuffled past the shelving units, his heartbeat pounding in his ears, his mind racing.

  ‘I know you’re in here,’ the man’s voice called out. ‘And I will find you.’

  Too late, he turned at the sound of running feet, and then growled as Yusuf emerged from the shadows, raising a length of metal piping, before he lunged forwards.

  The blow caught him below his ribs, and he collapsed to the floor with a grunt, clutching his right side. His gun slid away from him across the concrete surface.

  He pushed himself up to a crouching position and began crawling away, but Yusuf laughed, and then aimed a kick to his kidneys.

  Finn rolled, the tip of Yusuf’s boot scraping his skin. Sucking air into his lungs, he pushed himself upright, raised his fists and moved his body into a defensive stance.

  As Yusuf raised the metal pipe once more, Finn stepped quickly into the man’s attack, punched the arm which held the pipe and swung a kick at the man’s shins, before backing away.

  Yusuf yelled in surprise, but his grip on the metal pipe only lessened for a moment. He lifted it again. His breath hissed through his teeth as he circled his adversary.

  As the pipe swung towards him, Finn ducked and charged. He wrapped his arms around the other man’s waist and drove him backwards into the shelves.

  Yusuf grunted with the impact.

  Finn stepped back, aiming a punch at the man’s nose.

  Too late, his peripheral vision spotted the pipe bearing down.

  Finn cried out with the impact and fell to the floor. He rolled onto his back and glared at his assailant.

  Yusuf smiled, patting the metal piping in his hand, and then reached into his belt and pulled out the bloodied knife, twisting it in the moonlight so that its blade glinted in Finn’s face.

  ‘I’m going to enjoy this,’ he snarled.

  He held the knife to Finn’s right eye as he ran his other hand over his clothing, reaching into pockets and folds of fabric until satisfied that he carried no weapons.

  He grinned at Finn, tracing the blade down the hostage specialist’s body until it rested under his rib cage, and then bent to his ear.

  ‘Now you will pay for what you have done,’ he whispered.

  Chapter 29

  Kate heard Finn cry out in pain and stood, knocking the chair to the ground.

  She rushed to the door and peered around the corner of the wall. The passageway remained empty. She carefully walked along the length of the wall to the doors which led through to the garage.

  Once she was sure she wouldn’t be seen, she continued to sidle up the length of the passageway, making her way to the workshop area, then froze.

  A man’s legs stuck out across the threshold of the room, his rifle on the floor.

  Kate
ignored the temptation to retch at the sight of his dead eyes and the torn skin around his neck, and edged quietly towards the door.

  A groan stopped her heart.

  Finn.

  ‘Wait,’ he said, and she could hear the pain in his voice.

  She closed her eyes and took a deep breath, but before she could decide what to do next, a man’s voice carried through the room.

  Yusuf.

  Kate glanced down at the chain hanging around her wrist, and made sure the end of it was gathered up so it wouldn’t fall to the floor and give her presence away.

  Satisfied, she crept closer to the door. She realised she’d have to take a risk and peer round, to see what state Finn was in.

  ‘You cannot stop me,’ said Yusuf. He held a length of metal piping and a knife, pointing both towards Finn, who writhed on the floor, clutching his shoulder.

  ‘The bomb’s useless without the parts,’ panted Finn. ‘Give it up.’

  Yusuf smiled. ‘It’s not useless. It’s primed and ready,’ he said. ‘It won’t be as powerful, but it will work.’

  Kate looked behind to make sure she hadn’t been followed, and then held onto the door frame and leaned forward, twisting her body to face the room.

  Yusuf stood with his back to her, only a few metres away. He paced back and forth, then seemed to lose interest in Finn and walked over to where a home-made bomb had been constructed.

  Yusuf smiled, leaned down to the weapon and flicked a switch.

  Kate’s eyes widened at the sight of a digital timer, the red numbers flaring in the gloom.

  ‘No, don’t!’ said Finn. ‘You’ll kill innocent people!’

  ‘You are too late,’ said Yusuf, pressing another button. ‘You will die here.’

  He turned, and Kate pulled herself back behind the doorframe, not daring to breath. Her heart thundered in her chest as the countdown began.

  ‘I shall have great pleasure in killing you,’ said Yusuf, and Kate’s blood chilled at the smoothness of the man’s voice. ‘It’s a shame that you won’t live to see what I have in mind for your woman.’

  She heard him pacing back and forth once more, and risked a glance into the room. Yusuf stood with his back to her, preening in front of Finn.